Molded plastic siding panels used on exterior wall surfaces are well known in the prior art. These siding panels are typically made of synthetic thermoplastic polymers and are nailed to a wall support surface in horizontal rows partially overlapping each other for aesthetic purposes. The siding panels are typically installed on a wall surface starting with a bottom course and nailing several adjacent courses. Side marginal edge regions of each panel can mate with adjacent panels utilizing a male-female tongue-in-groove configuration.
Various arrangements have been proposed for interlocking a siding panel with another siding panel provided directly above it. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,224,701 to Bryant, et al. discloses a molded plastic panel for covering an exterior building wall. The panel has a panel body which includes a locking lip for engaging a locking tab on an adjacent panel and a flexible hinge which connects the locking lip to the panel body. The panel also has an attachment hem or nail hem adjacent to a top wall having laterally elongated, laterally spaced nail slots 31 of the same size for locating nails.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,955,019 to Donlin, et al. shows a wall covering comprising a plurality of plastic panels which are mounted on a support surface with a lower marginal edge region of one panel overlaying an upper marginal edge region of a previously mounted panel in a lower course and with a side marginal edge region of one panel overlying the side marginal edge region of the previously mounted adjacent panel in the same course. The marginal edge regions are provided with interlocks which engage and secure both the overlapping upper and lower marginal edge regions and the overlapping side marginal edge regions. For securing a panel to a support surface, the upper marginal edge region of each panel is formed with a row of elongated laterally spaced nailing apertures of the same size.
In conventional panels which have intermittent locks, the siding installers may occasionally miss a lock and due to the line of sight during the installation, it may not be detected until the installer is finished with the installation and is reviewing the work. The missed lock would then be readily apparent and the correction of this would require the installer to reset the panel.
Although U.S. Pat. No. 6,715,250 discloses a conventional siding panel which utilizes a continuous lock feature in which the panel is injection molded with a living hinge which is folded and welded to the panel to form the top lock, this panel requires additional steps to form the top lock.
Additionally, conventional siding panels are provided with nail slots having a center nail hole that substantially anchors the location of the panel with all of the other nail holes being slots of the same size in which nails are inserted and left slightly raised so they do not anchor the panel to the wall and thereby allow the panel to expand and contract with a change in temperature and still remain flat on the wall. However, these conventional panels have a problem in that the center hole must be aligned with a stud in a non-nail based sheathing installation, i.e., a sheathing not capable of adequately supporting a fastener.